Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Stephen Krashen article
Hi guys.
Your assignment for this week, along with turning in Journal 2, is to read this article. Then post about it including 1 thing that surprised you (you didn't know this before) and then tell me how it will affect your teaching. It doesn't need to be lengthy. A few sentences should do it.
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I learned how the acquisition theory is best for students to learn an L2. We need to give a message when we are talking to them. We need to make sure they are understanding what is said, not how it is said. His example of teaching German really made the point stick. This article also made me think back to my junior high Spanish class. We learned verb and their forms as much as we did basic vocabulary. This did not promote me to want to learn much Spanish, where as if it were conversational, I would have probably felt differently.
ReplyDeleteThis article made me ask myself, "What makes interactions (with students) more meaningful?" I realized that teaching strategies such as visual representations, gesturing, and modeling are very important for L2 learning. The different examples (of teaching German) Krashen gave really made an impression on me. Also, the concept of i+1 is very interesting. I now realize the importance of teaching slightly beyond a student's current level is the only way they will improve. I also watched his (Krashen's) video where he gave his opinion about "No Child Left Behind" testing. I couldn't agree more with his opinion that school resources that are spent on testing (time and money) could more useful if used to help families provide early literacy.
ReplyDeleteI found it interesting that the teaching of grammar results in language acquisition only if the students are interested and if the target language is used as a medium of instruction. That sort of makes me rethink the importance of teaching grammar, as I have a high # of ELLs.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article and watching the video last night, I thought this theory and these hypotheses just makes good sound sense. Especially the Monitor hypothesis (or minor), which explains individual student variation among language learners including the under, over, and optimal users with regard to 'monitor' use. What surprised me was at the end of the article, where it talked about when the student actually made language acquisition progress, not during grammar instruction but when student was “listening” to the teacher “talk”!
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ReplyDeleteI was reminded about how 'acquisition' learning is so important. Students learn a language quicker if they have more opportunities to talk with their peers. I also found the part about grammar instruction interesting. Knowing that students learn more about the language from listening to the teacher talk then they do about the subject matter of the actual lesson. Makes me think more about slowing down my speech and making sure I am saying things correctly.
ReplyDeleteI have a teacher from Korea that is observing in my classroom until the end of the year. Her English is okay but there is still a slight difficulty with communication. I have noticed that the more she and I talk the easier it gets to understand each other. She is certainly benefiting from having opportunities to talk with the class and practice her English!
I was thinking about my lesson today and how most of what the students heard me say must have been meaningless.
ReplyDeleteWhat I did well:
As I used the word perimeter, I used my hands to trace the outside shape of a triangle. As I said perimeter again, I used a string and physically stretched it around the image of a triangle on the smart board. I used the word perimeter several more times as we calculated the distance around a triangle as a class and then individually.
What I could have done better:
I could have stayed with the gesturing piece much longer using more shapes with the same idea of perimeter. I might have shown a picture of a rectangle, said the word perimeter, and then used my hands to trace the outside shape. I could have repeated the procedure with a pentagon and a hexagon.
I could have also included an idea that was not perimeter such as area. I might have held up a checkerboard, and then moved my hand around the inside of the checkerboard indicating area inside rather than the distance around the outside. I could have said to the students, "Perimeter, yes?" This question and their answer would help clarify even more the idea of perimeter by showing what is not perimeter.
I can't say I was really surprised by the information in this article and video, since it was presented to us in our Linguistic Course textbook. However, it does bring to mind again (and sometimes we get so bogged down with everything else that it's important to hear again) important considerations about the Affective Filter and Comprehensible Input. What this means to me is that students have to first be motivated, confident in their abilities, and feel calm and safe in the classroom. If these needs are not met first, they will not be able to focus their minds on the 2nd language input, no matter how comprehensible. This reminds me of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs that we all, I'm sure, learned about in college. I have to create a safe, encouraging, climate in my class where these children are not afraid to take risks and make mistakes. I think they need to see me make mistakes to know that it's okay, and to watch how I laugh at myself. This also means that everyone in the class has to be a "bucket-filler". They need time to practice encouraging each other and talking about how it feels to be encouraged and how it feels to encourage someone.
ReplyDeleteJennifer, this was the part of the article that jumped out to me as well. Had to laugh though at your "bucket filler" comment. Our school is currently involved in a "bucket filling" campaign. Even brought home the little story about filling someone's bucket so I could plan some activities this week. The positive environment is so important though.
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